I presume that this is indeed true, for both BBC and Autosport to report this and it then not being correct does not seem likely. As a Dane I am very happy about this, it have been obvious for quite some time that McLaren saw something very very good in Kevin Magnussen, and making room for him over Perez show this. His results next season will show if it was a smart or a not smart decision.

In regard his dad, yes he was a huge disappointment considering the talent that he obviously had. On an other site I referred to him as "Kimi before Kimi with less self discipline", this link gives a pretty good accessment of Jan's F1 career.

I believe Perez wouldn't improve in 2014 and would always be inferior to JB, so I think it is a right choice to give Magnussen a chance. Not much to lose, but lots to gain if he proves to be a top driver. But I still think they should have gone for Hulkenberg, who seems to me to be a proven quality at the moment.

There is no way Magnussen is ready for that type of an F1 seat, unless McLaren have accepted that they are no longer a top team.

They had chances to get Hulk last year and this year and instead put Magnussen at one of the backmarkers to learn and take Button's place in a year or so, yet instead they went for an option that's worse in the short and long run...

Autosport doesn't actually confirm it. "Sources have confirmed to AUTOSPORT that the team has decided to promote the Formula Renault 3.5 champion, although a contract has not yet been signed", the article says.

I would be surprised, though, if this is indeed true. And I wonder where this leaves Pérez after a disappointing season that's very much to blame on McLaren's form.

"Sources" is code for "McLaren".

Wonder what data McLaren has that shows Magnussen is a better bet than Perez. On the face of it I'm not entirely sure. Then again McLaren managed to lose Newey to Red Bull.

I think Magnussen has plenty of potential, but I'm not entirely sure if he's ready to jump into F1 straight away. I guess McLaren are thinking along the same lines as Red Bull with Kyvet. If they think they've got a real talent on their books, then they might as well put him straight in and let him learn on the fly.

I still rate Perez more than many do here, so I hope he can stick around. With backing, I'm sure that won't be a problem.

Bit harsh on Perez IMO even though I'm not a fan of his. I think he was up against it from day one and I wouldn't be surprised if this was McLaren's plan all along (unless something amazing happened this year)

Perez matched Jenson for a lot of this season and outraced him on occasion in this dog of a car but he hasn't really shone like he did in the Sauber. Shame for him after such promise the previous seasons. Maybe a better car would have saved him.

Find it a real shame for Perez, but at the same time, I'm interested to see how Magnussen does. For some reason, he never really caught my eye...until this year. Won me over with his performance in WSbR. At least unlike certain other sons/nephews of famous racing drivers, Kevin has the talent to back up the surname.

Now McLaren just needs to promote Vandoorne for 2015 and I'll be very happy with their line-up.

,
I'm a huge McLaren fan since the age of 7 so just 37 years for me. But I believe that your comment is absolutely correct McLaren's decision making has been flawed for 5 years now.....

They had way more data on Sergio than anyone on this forum last year (I presume) and decided that Sergio was the smart move, I wonder what has changed. In the last12 months?

Regards Mike

They didn't have Magnussen's data then.

I think this choice is more about Magnussen than about Perez.

McLaren wants to be a top team with top drivers. It's not that Perez is a bad driver or a failure, it's rather the fact that McLaren have found out that he's just not the top driver they are looking for. And we know how hard they want a top driver from the approaches they recently made to Alonso.

Rather than soldiering on with Sergio they now take their chance to find out if Jan has what it takes. We'll see if that's the right choice.....

I'm not so sure this is as bad as some make out to be. Also he's still got 2 years of experience, and it's hard to impress in this year's McLaren.

The points differences are bigger when you're only picking up points once every few races. If the car was good enough for 5th-6th every race the difference between the two of them would've been smaller.

Somehow I think you didn't follow FR 3.5 very well this year.

It's a bold move, but I think Jan is already just that good.

Doesn't matter if Magnussen is the best and purest driver since Senna. You need experience to get the most out of these crap Pirellis, not driving ability.

I think that possibly McLaren have accepted for 2014 to be a less than stellar season, they will be preparing for Honda's return, and based on how much they rate Kevin internally have decided to groom him in their own car, having failed to get him into an other teams.

All I can say is that this had better not be true. If it is, and Perez retains a drive somewhere, Mclaren are going to be very sorry because Perez is the goods. It would be tragic if he were let go after his "opportunity" in what amounts to the crappiest McLaren to leave the garage in years.

If Button had managed to do a great job in the seat, that would be one thing, but he hasn't. The car is a junk heap. And while he's had a tough 'rookie in a top car' year, it was no where near as bad as Grosjean and Maldonado's exhibitions when their cars were at the sharp end.

Nonetheless, this might be a part of some scheme that is bigger than 2014's line up, so who knows. Hopefully Perez retains the seat. According to F1.com., it is not as wrapped up as the title to this thread would have us believe.

I really hope this is true. I haven't been this excited about anything in F1 since Brazil 2007. I have been waiting for this news the last few days!

If KM gets the chance at McLaren, I am almost sure that he will fare well against Button and establish himself as the faster driver. But not so sure he can out score him over a season.

So his aspirations should be pretty much what Sergio has achieved this year?
Please don't take this as an attack on Kevin I don't know much about him (but I was awed watching his dad in F3) I just think Sergio deserves better.